Old methods create new message

In this computer age where digital imagery and video art seem to rule, are painting and sculpture still viable means of contemporary expression?

Two solo shows by young artists -- one sculptor and one painter -- at the Hong-gah Museum, on view until March 20, show that traditional art can still contain the vitality of today's world without looking dated. They prove that a paintbrush and a lump of clay can still do the job.

Sculptor Wang Zhi-wen's (王志文) Space Imagination of the Human Body is a collection of figurative monochromatic clay sculptures that are thematically par-for-the-course of the art academy student: the reclining nude, the thinker, the bust.

However, in Wang's hands, the manipulations of clay or fiber-reinforced polymer that form the muscle mass, sinewy tendons, etc, also include the emotive feelings of isolated human angst but with a twinge of humor in it, making it a bit Kafka-esque.

In Walker, a white torso leans heavily on a bare tabletop above a path strewn with rocks. The figure looks as if he is pulling himself out of the table like an arthritic genie, as his gesture was modeled on the daily struggle an infirm senior citizen undergoes while maneuvering a walker. Not exactly tragedy of mythic proportions, but tragedy nonetheless.

In a piece suspended from the ceiling, a bust of a man covers his eyes in anguish, while underneath, his doppelganger reflects the same dispiriting activity. But instead of capturing epic woe, the emotion seems to be more at the banal level of the coffee-cup slogan, like having a bad hair day.

Even though the male figures aren't grappling with the stuff of legend, they do show that the everyday struggle of life is just as heroic.

In his sculptures of the female, Wang chooses a more sensuous approach. A large pair of voluptuous lips have engulfed and formed a protective shield for its resting female inhabitant. In a smaller sculpture, a nude reclining on a sofa seems to be sinking into the cushions becoming part of the furniture as both the figure and sofa merge and are painted a soft speckled green.

By contrast, painter Hua Chien-chiang's (華建強) impressive showing titled Attain Holiness and Transcend Worldliness plays counterpoint to the more somber and introspective clay works.

Hua's Chinese scrolls and small paintings are installed on fiery tomato-red walls that dramatically breathe exhilarating life into the exhibition space.

Each painting has its own unique palette of colors, mood and theme, yet each one contains a similar cast of cartoon-like characters that seem to channel the spirit of Bart Simpson and that unite the 31 paintings on view.

Using the vernacular of Buddhist iconographic painting, each scroll has a dominant male figure (think Mr Burns ) ensconced in a lotus-shaped platform. The perspective of the paintings, as in traditional Chinese scroll painting, shifts as there is no fixed horizon line, so that many of the elongated paintings must be looked at from top to bottom.

Using the traditional stylistic format with its mountain peaks, flowering blossoms and swirling clouds, Hua includes modern objects such as scooters, bulldozers, traffic, Walkmans and electrical transformers and makes references to pop culture to gently poke fun at contemporary Chinese life.

Some of the canvas texture looks like batik, and in some areas paint is splattered Pollock-style, showing that Hua is quite adept as a painter.